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Germany Bans Support of ISIS Germany Bans Support for ISIS
(about 3 hours later)
BERLIN — Anyone caught displaying the black flag of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, whether in public or over the Internet, will face charges in Germany after the government announced a ban Friday on supporting the extremist group and its activities. BERLIN — Germany on Friday announced a ban on activities that support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, including any displays of its black flag, as part of an effort to suppress the extremist group’s propaganda and recruitment work among Germans.
The move will allow the authorities to crack down on the dissemination of propaganda by the group, known as ISIS, that has been instrumental in attracting support from Germans, amid fear about the organization’s growing popularity. Some 450 Germans are believed to have left the country for Syria, raising fears about the danger that radicalized individuals could pose if they were to return. The ban was announced amid a growing Western-led drive to galvanize countries around the world, but particularly in the Middle East, to destroy the group, which has seized parts of northern and eastern Syria and northern Iraq and has become known for its brutality.
Germany’s crackdown reflected concern among officials about ISIS’s appeal in the country. About 450 Germans are believed to have departed for Syria as ISIS recruits, punctuating fears that they could return to Germany radicalized and dangerous. Under the new restrictions, all displays of support for ISIS, and all efforts aimed at enticing Germans to join the group, are prohibited.
“Germany is a true democracy, and there is no place here for a terror organization directed at the constitutional system and the belief in understanding among different peoples,” Thomas de Maizière, the interior minister, said in a statement announcing the ban.“Germany is a true democracy, and there is no place here for a terror organization directed at the constitutional system and the belief in understanding among different peoples,” Thomas de Maizière, the interior minister, said in a statement announcing the ban.
By making it illegal to support the group, instead of seeking to ban ISIS in Germany outright, the police will be able to react immediately, without needing to involve the often cumbersome judicial system.By making it illegal to support the group, instead of seeking to ban ISIS in Germany outright, the police will be able to react immediately, without needing to involve the often cumbersome judicial system.
“A ban of the organization may not have had the desired impact,” Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, told ARD public television. “This is aimed at smashing an organizational structure, to rob members of grass-roots support for their activities.”“A ban of the organization may not have had the desired impact,” Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, told ARD public television. “This is aimed at smashing an organizational structure, to rob members of grass-roots support for their activities.”